Methods and systems for analyzing particles in a dilute fluid sample are well known, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,338,024 and 4,393,466. Existing flow microscope particle analyzers use an image acquisition device and software that detects particles based on their brightness difference with the background. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,538,299 and 5,625,709 are examples of such analyzers. Unfortunately, currently employed systems and methods often cannot efficiently detect low contrast particles, and often identify different parts of the same object as different objects, resulting in incorrect classification and reported element quantity.